𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 - 𝐄 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗘𝗗

𝐗𝐈𝐕

𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕

(the cursed witch, act two)

THEY BEGAN THE STEEP CLIMB AND THE ROAD GREW CONGESTED. As they wound higher, the cars became too close together for Alice to weave insanely between them anymore. They slowed to a crawl behind a little tan Peugeot.

"Alice," Nina groaned, anxiety rippling through her. The clock on the dash seemed to be speeding up.

"It's the only way in," The vampire tried to soothe her. But her voice was too strained to provide comfort.

The cars continued to edge forward, one car length at a time. The sun beamed down brilliantly, seeming already overhead. The cars crept one by one toward the city. As they got closer, Nina could see cars parked by the side of the road, with people getting out to walk the rest of the way.

At first she thought it was just impatience—something she could easily understand. But then they came around a switchback, and she could see the filled parking lot outside the city wall, the crowds of people walking through the gates. No one was being allowed to drive through.

"Alice," Nina whispered urgently.

"I know," She said. Her face was chiseled from ice. Now that Nina was looking, and they were crawling slowly enough to see, she could tell that it was very windy. The people crowding toward the gate gripped their hats and tugged their hair out of their faces. Their clothes billowed around them.

She also noticed that the color red was everywhere. Red shirts, red hats, red flags dripping like long ribbons beside the gate, whipping in the wind—as she watched, the brilliant crimson scarf one woman had tied around her hair was caught in a sudden gust. It twisted up into the air above her, writhing like it was alive. She reached for it, jumping in the air, but it continued to flutter higher, a patch of bloody color against the dull, ancient walls.

"Nina." Alice spoke quickly in a fierce, low voice. "I can't see what the guard here will decide now—if this doesn't work, you and Peter will have to go in alone. I'll go around and try to find a secluded spot somewhere behind the city where I can go over the wall."

Nina nodded.

"Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square. There's a narrow alleyway on the right, and he'll be in the shadow there. You have to get his attention before he can move into the sun."

Nina nodded furiously.

Alice was near the front of the line. A man in a navy blue uniform was directing the flow of traffic, turning the cars away from the full lot. They U turned and headed back to find a place beside the road. Then it was Alice's turn.